A TOP crime-busting team is in desperate need of a cash boost to stop it going under for good.

The Loddon Valley Crime Prevention Panel has been fighting felons for 10 years by helping people get wise to crime and protect themselves.

In one of its many public safety campaigns three years ago the group helped cut crime by 60 per cent in a Woodley street.

It has also security-marked thousands of mobile phones and bikes, delivered police warning notices to households, given advice on how to recognise drug abuse and shown new homeowners how to make their property secure.

But all this is under threat after the group's trailer, which is at the heart of its efforts, fell apart on the way to an event at The University of Reading just before Christmas.

Without it, the crime-fighting volunteers do not know if their work can survive, and they are frantic to get a replacement.

The trailer had become a familiar sight at shows, schools and shopping centres where it was used to give out advice and aid on how to stay safe.

Loddon Valley Crime Prevention Panel chairman Peter Watts said: "We have already missed the Wokingham Show and the Henley Christmas show because we have no unit.

"We are very active and like to get things done, we don't like to sit behind a desk.

"Other crime prevention panels, which work without a unit, have gone under.

"We go out weekend in, weekend out. We find out where the crime hotspots are and get our units as close as we can to them.

"Then we swamp the area with leaflets and advise people.

"We have targeted large parts of Woodley and we are working on Twyford at the moment."

If the group goes under it will not be able to organise its self-defence classes, which hundreds of Reading women have benefited from in the past.

Peter Watts' wife, Anne, who attended a six-week class, said: "The classes were very good and very useful.

"I was taught how to overcome an attacker by scientific means rather than by brute force.

"It has given me more confidence."

The panel also offers a service to people who have had their house burgled

A member of the group will visit the house to carry out a survey and advise the house owner on how to keep the building more secure in the future.

The panel needs companies or organisations to come forward with cash to pay for a new trailer.

Its original trailer, which opened out into a display area with examples of burglar alarms, locks and CCTV as well as safety advice, was donated by Prudential.

This was towed to events by a van lent by BTC Van Hire of Wokingham, but the panel now wants a van large enough to be fitted out like the old trailer so they do not need to hire a tow vehicle.

Any company or organisation wanting to help the Loddon Valley Crime Prevention Panel can contact the group via the Evening Post on (0118) 918 3009.